Values of honesty and integrity in kutadgu bilig

Abstract

This study aims to examine the couplets in the Kutadgu Bilig written by Yusuf Has Hajib in terms of the values of honesty and integrity from the perspective of values education. The study has been conducted using document analysis and content analysis techniques in accordance with the qualitative research methods. The work has been examined by determining the words on integrity, truthfulness and being honest. It can be said that honesty and integrity are one of the most important issues discussed throughout the work. Based on the findings of this study, it can be said that the Kutadgu Bilig is extremely important for the values education, which has recently gained importance in education policies and it can be easily used in values education.

Full text

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Values of Honesty and Integrity in
Kutadgu Bilig*
Cüneyt Akar**
Ömer Özkan***
Abstract
is study aims to examine the couplets in the Kutadgu
Bilig written by Yusuf Has Hajib in terms of the values of
honesty and integrity from the perspective of values ed-
ucation. e study has been conducted using document
analysis and content analysis techniques in accordance
with the qualitative research methods. e work has been
examined by determining the words on integrity, truth-
fulness and being honest. It can be said that honesty and
integrity are one of the most important issues discussed
throughout the work. Based on the ndings of this study,
it can be said that the Kutadgu Bilig is extremely impor-
tant for the values education, which has recently gained
importance in education policies and it can be easily used
in values education.
Keywords
Kutadgu Bilig, Yusuf Has Hajib, Values, Values educa-
tion, Honesty, Integrity
123-145
* A part of ths research was presented at Internatonal Symposum of Kutadgu Blg: e
Masterpece of Turksh world-vew, 18-20.11.2016, Istanbul
** Assst. Prof. Dr, Usak Unversty, Faculty of Educaton – Usak/Turkey
akarcuneyt@gmal.com
*** Prof. Dr., Gaz Unversty, Faculty of Educaton – Ankara/Turkey
ozkano@hotmal.com

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Introduction
e concept of value, which is one of the mostly discussed issues in many social
sciences disciplines such as philosophy, psychology and educational sciences, has
been dened from dierent perspectives. One common point stated in these
denitions is the fact that the “value” guides people (Acun, Yücel, Önder, Tar-
man, 2013.) e word “value” has become a concept that had been used in
dierent meanings and is still dened from a dierent aspect day by day. e
cause of the confusion encountered in the values education is because of the fact
that there is not a precise denition for the “value” concept (Yiğit and Tarman,
2013). Value can be dened in many dierent ways. According to Kohlberg
(1981), value is to make moral decisions and demonstrate such attitudes and
behaviours. eodorson and edorson (1979) dene a value as an abstract,
generalized principle of behaviour to which the members of a group feel a strong,
emotionally toned positive commitment and which provides a standard for
judging specic acts and goals. Rokeach (1973) denes values as a long-term
personal belief concerning a certain style of behaviour or the main purpose of
existence. Halstead and Taylor (1996) dene values as the basic assumptions
or principles that are reference points for our actions and decisions and guide
our behaviours. Schwartz et al. (2001) dene values as the principles that guide
people’s lives; while Hill (1991) denes values as the beliefs the people prioritize
and allow them to guide their lives. Veugelers (2000) denes values as “the ideas
that help individuals decide what is good or evil” in the sense of a fair life. Raths,
Harmin and Simon (1966) describe values as beliefs, attitudes or feelings that an
individual is proud of, is willing to publicly arm, has been chosen thoughtfully
from alternatives without persuasion, and is acted on repeatedly (cited by Hal-
stead and Taylor, 1996). According to Morrow (1989), values are synonymous
with the rules and principles that appear in a society. Yapıcı and Zengin (2003)
understand values as the shared and generalized attitudes.
Drawing and Spranger (1921) and Allport and Vernon (1931) grouped the
values under six dierent sub-groups including political, social, econom-
ic, theoretical, religious and aesthetic values (Bilsky and Schwartz, 1994).
Güngör (1998) added the 7th value as the moral values including the values
such as being honest, truthful, tolerant and helpful (cited by Güven, 2014).
e values, in the broadest sense, are our judgments on what is good and what
is evil. e values are to some extent precise and systematic ideas ensuring the

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individual’s interaction with the environment rather than being what we prefer
according to taste (Veugelers and Vedder, 2003). e values, in brief, are our
beliefs and assumptions on what (which and what kind of behaviours) are good,
beautiful, true and holy and what is not (Hokelekli, 2006). e values let us
know how we should behave by guiding our behaviours and carrying our ac-
tions, judgments and instant goals to higher targets (Doğan, 2004). In addition,
if the individuals’ and groups’ value preferences can be determined in an objec-
tive manner, their attitudes and behaviours can be predicted (Baaran, 1993).
e individuals can communicate eectively with other people thanks to
the values and can prepare an appropriate basis for determining their social
position. It is impossible to lead a meaningful and regular life without having
certain values and beliefs (Ünal, 2011, p. 6). In this respect, the values are
a phenomenon that connects people, a judgment concerning emotions and
excitements and an incentive that guides our behaviours (MOE, 2006, p. 54).
An important characteristic of the values from which the individuals benet
to recognize and understand the situations around them is that they are not
innate, so they are acquired through learning and experiences. erefore,
value acquisition is an educational issue itself (Yeil and Aydın, 2007, p. 65).
erefore, the importance of today’s education system (hence of the schools)
should be based on helping students acquire skills and values rather than
passing information to them (Bacanlı, 2012, p. 30). In this sense, it can be
said that the values are the source of both the individuals’ perceptions of their
own identity and their viewpoints and assessments about and others (Yapıcı
and Zengin, 2003, s. 181).
Values Education
e individual’s realizing certain values, creating new values and adapting
these values to his/her behaviours are an educational issue. is is briey
called as “values education” (Yeil and Aydın, 2007, p. 71). e main objec-
tives of the values education are referred to as the individuals’ being sensitive
to the events occurring around them, creating social awareness, honesty and
responsibility, caring about the others, sharing with others and learning to live
together in society (Acun, Demir, Göz, 2010; Tay, Durmaz and anal, 2013).
Considering the eorts on values education today, it is seen that the values edu-
cation is carried out under the heading “improved character education” with an

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educational approach including the interrelated values such as social skills training,
moral education and citizenship education. In this approach, although the individ-
ual preferences and values are in the foreground, it does not eliminate the schools’
socializing task; it is seen that the changes in individual and social lives increase the
importance of the values (Demircioğlu and Tokdemir, 2008, s. 73-74).
Values education is a character-oriented education. Its aim is to build a char-
acter equipped with certain values. Attributing values to the character of the
individuals is to transform these values into the criteria that can determine
and guide the individual’s attitudes and behaviours. Because, personality is the
name given to the individual’s all mental and social reactions (Oğuzkan, 1993,
p. 86). is is a concept that summarizes the individual’s all interests, attitudes,
characteristics and environmental compliance characteristics (Baaran, 1974,
p. 195). Early childhood where the seeds of personality are planted and the
personality is shaped signicantly is very important in terms of values education
(Yeil and Aydın, 2007, p. 80). However, the values are to a greater extent asso-
ciated with learning in as much as the maturation. e eect of maturation is
conned to the individual’s achieving competence of learning. Here, learning is
what matters most (Güngör, 1998, p. 24). e individuals detect certain values
depending on the maturity level, but they adopt and transfer these values to
their behaviours through learning (Yeil, 2002, p. 59). e personality of the
educators and their being role models are the identifying characteristics in that
context (Çağlar, 2005). erefore, attitudes and behaviours are also inuenced
hugely by learning through modelling. e educators in educational settings
should create a climate of trust by exhibiting the behaviours consistent with
the target values that they want their students to acquire. e educators can
functionally guide the students to set their goals, develop their interests and
build their own values by using the appropriate methods and approaches based
on the students’ individual dierences (Ünal, 2011, p. 20).
e “values” issue is of importance as it is closely related to the individuals
and our society seeking its place in the rapidly changing world as well as
its theoretical aspects. is makes it necessary to know the society better
and therefore to discuss the values in a detailed way (Baydar, 2009, p. 16).
Including the values –especially developing, changing and being adopted in
childhood– in education and the individuals’ reecting these values underline
the importance of values education once again.

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Values education is important, but the answers given to the questions on how
much the values to be acquired by the students are compatible with the national
culture and the spirit of Turkish civilization are far from satisfactory. Founded as
the Ottoman Empire’s remainder, Turkey has turned its face towards the West
and set its philosophy and ideal as “to reach the level of contemporary civiliza-
tion”. However, there are deep religious, social and cultural dierences between
the Muslim Turkish civilization and the Christian Western civilization. In this
sense, there has been much debate on which foundations the Turkey’s relations
with the West should be grounded and serious conicts have been experienced
between the ideas of Westernism and anti-Westernism. At the heart of the de-
bate have been discussions about Secular/Anti-Secular and sharing of the state
power and these debates have been mainly about the values; this situation has
created deep social ssures and prevented the society from coming together
around common values as a whole. e values given at schools have been adopt-
ed by a part of the society while other parts have adopted opposing views and
values in an environment where the social structure has been broken. erefore,
the schools were unable to provide the ideal values to the all segments of society
and the citizens have adopted the values that have been ideology-oriented or
they have been inuenced by their close circle without question. Education
policies could not go beyond imitating the West and failed to develop an ap-
propriate education philosophy unique to its own social dynamics. Today, an
approach based on the education philosophy of USA is adopted as reference to
the education policies. In brief, the philosophical understanding of the Western
culture and civilization is tried to be adapted to the Turkish education system;
however, there has not been any sign of success so far.
e knowledge and values of the Western civilization is undoubtedly impor-
tant for us and they should be utilized. However, the educational policies
should be shaped based on our own needs and problems. Because, having
looked at the educational researches in Turkey, it is seen that the research
topics and concepts are in the West’s agenda and they emerge from their own
needs. e compatibility of these issues and concepts with our own problems
and needs is rarely discussed. e values education that is also the subject
of this study has gained importance in Turkey; however, the eect of West
underlies this interest. It is undoubted that the values education is important
and this issue should be discussed more. Western sources should be consulted
in the context of looking for information and experience that are required in

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overcoming the current problems and meeting the needs of Turkey; in this
sense, we should benet from the knowledge and experience of the West for
the similar situations. Briey, our education policies should be benet-based
and constructed upon a unique understanding away from the ideological
approaches such as pro-Western or anti-Western approaches. e studies on
values education should also be considered in this manner. Values education
should be seen as an issue of mentality and culture. In this respect, the main
determining factor in shaping the behaviours of individuals is the values that
have been adopted. Adopting and dedication, compared to knowing or en-
forcement, are more decisive in the values education process and they guide
the behaviours. e individuals can have certain values and exhibit appropri-
ate behaviours because they internalize these values rather than taking them
granted since they are included in laws and regulations (Yeil, 2002, p. 59).
It can be said that the values education in Turkey has begun with a UNES-
CO-supported program “Living Values Education Program” aimed at helping
students acquire the universal values such as cooperation, freedom, happiness,
honesty, love, modesty, peace, respect, responsibility, simplicity, tolerance and
unity. Board of Education and Discipline of the Ministry of National Educa-
tion sent a circular on the implementation of activities on values education
inside and outside the classroom in the preschools, primary and secondary
schools in 2010-2011 academic year to the governorships and all primary and
secondary schools in 2010. e circular stated that the following values are
intended to be acquired by the students: democracy, responsibility, anger and
conict, love, respect, tolerance, compassion, friendship, truthfulness, clean-
liness, self-condence, kindness, cooperation, diligence, thriftiness, patience,
patriotism, hospitality, courtesy and etiquette, unity, peace, grace, empathy,
eective communication and humility (Cihan, 2014). In addition, it is also
seen that these values are included in the programs of certain courses such as
life sciences (MOE, 2015), social studies (MOE, 2005) and Turkish Language
(MOE, 2006).
e values include universal qualities. e abovementioned values are positive
and should be given to our students. e problem here is not the truth or
falsity of these values, but it is about if the values education will be completely
based on the Western civilization or our own values. What should be done is

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to train individuals with a character having fundamental national values and
internalizing universal values based on the requirements of the globalized world.
Turkish history includes myriad materials that can be taken as a reference in order
to raise a generation based on national values. e current study discusses the
Kutadgu Bilig written by Yusuf Has Hajib. Because, regarded as a tremendous re-
source by researchers, this work stand as a source through which the values owned
by today’s Turkish society can be understood and is full of all values that can be
easily used in values education. As the literature is reviewed, it is seen that there
are studies examining the relationship between Kutadgu bilig with education in
Turkey (Arat, 1971; Beslen, 1985; Özcan, 1988; Çağıran, 1995; Odacı, 1997;
Kocasava, 2006; Emiroğlu, 2012; Arslan, 2012; Temizyürek, 2013; Bozkırlı,
2015). However, we have encountered just a study regarding values education
(Tekan, 2012). Consequently, it may be thought as an indicator that of ‘Kutadgu
Bilig’ has been not assessed suciently in terms of values education.
Kutadgu Bilig (Wisdom of Royal Glory)
Kutadgu Bilig was written in 18 months (completed in 1070 A.D.) and present-
ed to Tavgach Bughra Khan Bin Suleyman during the period of Karakhanids
that is known as the rst Muslim Turkic state. Kutadgu Bilig is regarded to be
the rst important work in terms of Turkic language, literature, culture and
civilization in the Islamic epoch. e prologues that are considered to have
been added later give some information about the author and his work. Ac-
cording to this, Kutadgu Bilig is a work everyone can benet from. It is known
that the book explains and elucidates certain topics such as what is needed to
rule a country and cities, what causes the destruction or survival of the state,
requirements of sovereignty, course of action, accommodation and campaign
routes of the armies and soldiers and etc. It is noted that the book is referred
to by dierent names in various countries; however, it is named as “Kutadgu
Bilig” in Turan provinces. Upon presenting his work to Tavgach Bughra Khan,
he was awarded the title “Has Hajib” (translating as Privy Councilor or Senior
Advisor) and the Khan hold him close. erefore, the poet who had become
known respectfully was called by everyone as Yusuf Has Hajib.
e work consisting of 6645 couplets starts with the praises of God, Prophet
and four caliphs. is is followed by an ode to spring and praise of Tavgach
Bughra Khan. In the next section that can be accepted as raison d’etre (sebeb-i

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te’lif) of the book, the author explains why he wrote this work. e Kutadgu
Bilig is structured around four main characters. ey are respectively listed
as Justice, Fortune (State), Intelligence (Wisdom) and Contented (Welfare).
e author encodes each of these concepts under specic names. Justice
Kün-Toğdı (translating as “the sun has risen” – “Rising Sun”) is referred to as
the King; State/Fortune Ay-Toldı (translating as “the moon is full” – “Full
Moon”) is referred to as the Vizier; Intelligence (Wisdom) Öğdülmiş (trans-
lating as “praised” – “Highly Praised”) is referred to as Sage or the Vizier’s son;
Contented (Welfare) Odgurmış (translating as “awakened” – “Wide Awake”)
is referred to as Dervish or the Vizier’s relative. e Kutadgu Bilig, which is a
narrative work, has been structured around the dialogues between these char-
acters from beginning to end.
Kün-Toğdı (Justice) is an honest, generous and wise ruler whose fame has
spread through the world. Ay-Toldı (State) who is an intelligent person
equipped with outstanding features hears about the fame of Kün-Toğdı and
come to serve him. A man named Küsemi introduces Ay-Toldı to the Hacip
(advisor) of Kün-Toğdı. As a result of the conversations between them, Hacip
understands that Ay-Toldı is dierent and wise from anyone else and he intro-
duces him to the Ruler. us, Ay-Toldı enters the service of the Ruler. Kün-
Toğdı the Ruler has comprehensive conversations with Ay-Toldı on dierent
issues. ese conversations include the issues such as how the relations with
the administrators should be, the importance of serving honestly and being
modest/smooth-spoken, the necessity of contentment and being grateful, the
importance of respecting elders and caring for the little ones, the importance
of doing a favour, behaving well to guests and foreigners and being generous
to them. All in all, these conversations include the dialogues about the path
to happiness. Ay-Toldı who represents welfare (fortune), state and blessedness
eventually falls ill and so, it is emphasized that welfare and everything in fact
are temporary; therefore, the only fact is to do a favour, behave well to others,
prepare for the afterlife and keep the reality of death in mind.
e Kutadgu Bilig in and of itself is a book of siyasatnâme (book of govern-
ment or rules for Kings) or nasihatnâme (advice to the Kings). e book,
therefore, has a didactic style. e wise Aksakal (elder in a community) nar-
rating the work is in fact the wisdom itself. e wisdom sometimes appears as
a vizier who gives counsel to the Ruler and sometimes appears as a father who

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talks with his son and gives him advice. Yusuf Has Hajip narrates his words
through four main characters who are Kün-Toğdı, Ay-Toldı, Öğdülmi and
Odgurmı. e author frequently addresses the reader beginning his words
saying “Listen to what Aksakal says…”, “Listen to what the lord of Ötüken
says…”, “O son…”, “Listen to what the lord of Uluğ-Kent says…”, “Listen
to what the Khan of Uç-Ordu (Army Commander)…”, “Listen to the head
of Hıtay caravans says travelling around the world…”, “Listen to the man
walking on the path of humanity…”1. e author thus rivets the readers’
attention on his words and enables them to read his words earnestly.
Yusuf Has Hajip mainly describes the basic principles for state management
and the administrators in his work; however, he actually suggests his obser-
vations on almost every level of the social life. He has striking observations
on the scholars (Ulema), physicians, diviners, dream interpreters, astrologers,
poets, cultivators, merchants, stockbreeders, craftsmen, the poor and servants.
He also makes important observations on how to communicate with these
dierent people and community groups. Furthermore, he explains etiquette of
eating and drinking at length. It is seen that Yusuf Has Hajip did not conne
himself only to the administrative part of the state and he was also a serious
observer on the all aspects of social life.
As a matter of fact, considering the period in which he lived and the condi-
tions under which the Turkic culture and civilization had been at that time,
Yusuf Has Hajip should be accepted as a “Wise man” and his work should
be seen as a kind of “wisdom book”. In order to understand the importance
of the author and his work for the Turkic culture, it should also be noted
that the author produced an invaluable work by transferring or transforming
pre-Islamic knowledge to the post-Islamic period. e Kutadgu Bilig is also
accepted as the rst work in terms of our language and literature in many
respects (such as the rst written work of the Islamic period, the rst masnavi,
the rst siyasetname, the rst nasihatname; the work in which aruz –poetry/
verse measure– has been used; the work in which the genres of ode to spring,
debate and testament have appeared for the rst time). Although the book
is sometimes regarded as a book of regulations or code of conduct –as seen
in certain headings about how a hacip (advisor) or army commander should
behave–, it is full of the references to the humanitarian values that are valid
even today. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the couplets

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of the Kutadgu Bilig in terms of the values education and collect data for the
studies discussing the national sources in the values education.
Method
In the current study, document analyss and content analyss technques have
been used n accordance wth the qualtatve research methods. In document
analyss, the data s obtaned through analyzng the wrtten documents conta-
nng nformaton on the facts and events related to the subject that s studed
n the study. e nvestgator systematcally analyzes reports, books, archves,
vdeo and audo recordngs, photographs and etc. that are related to the research
subject (Yıldırım and mek, 2008). In the content analyss, t s amed to reach
the relatonshps and themes that can help to explan the collected data. e
process followed n the content analyss s to gather the data that are bascally
smlar under certan concepts and themes and to nterpret these data organzng
n a way that the reader can easly understand. (Yıldırım and mek, 2008).
e nvestgator, therefore, performs nductve content analyss. In the nductve
(content) analyss, the content s frstly coded and then these codes are used
to reach concepts and themes. Codng s the dentfcaton of the meanngful
parts (such as a word, sentence, and paragraph) ncluded n the content. e
“concept” s to gve names to these codes. At the last step of content analyss s
created the eme (Category). e nvestgator categorzes the concepts under
certan categores at ths step (Yıldırım and mek, 2008).
Study Group
In the current study, criterion based purposive sampling method has been
used to choose the document to analyze. e purposive sampling is mostly
used in qualitative researches and it is aimed to deeply analyze the situations
that are believed to have very rich information rather than generalizing infor-
mation. In this method, the investigator benets from his/her own opinions
about who or what to analyze and prefers the best option for the research as
the sampling (Balcı, 2005). e criterion sampling basically involves searching
for cases or individuals that meet a certain criterion. e criterion or criteria
mentioned here can be created by the investigator or a standard criteria list
can be used (imek and Yıldırım, 2008).
Regarded as one of the most important works in the Turkic culture history
and written by Yusuf Has Hajib, the Kutadgu Bilig (consists of 6645 couplets)

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has been taken as the sampling. Based on the denition of the values as the
“thoughts and behaviours regarded as sacred assets by the society”, it can be said
that the values guide the individuals who are able to be a part the community
in terms of the required behaviours in daily life and determine the individual’s
overall lifestyle. It can be concluded that the values and values education vary
from society to society and this change is a normal necessity. However, review-
ing the literature related to values education in Turkey, it is seen that foreign
sources are more prevalent than the native sources. is should be considered
as a lack of values education. e values by nature have local characteristics
and can be acquired easily when they are presented through the models that
are more appropriate for the individuals’ characteristics. Turkish civilization
consists of many historical gures and works that can be benetted in the values
education. e current study and selection of the document to be analyzed have
been carried out in accordance with this assumption. Kutadgu Bilig is undoubt-
edly a comprehensive work and its content is full of values. erefore, it is im-
possible to examine all the values it embodies within the scope of a study. us,
this study only discusses the themes of the work about honesty and integrity.
Practice
Te study has been conducted by two investigators having PhD degree on
Turkish language teaching and classroom training. e investigators have
primarily chosen the work that is suitable for the purposes of the study. en,
each investigator has individually examined each couplet in the work in terms
of integrity and honesty themes. e investigators then discussed about the
couplets they determined and made their decisions to which category and
theme the couplets are related upon reaching an agreement.
1. e following stages have been respectively followed in content
analysis;
2. 6645 couplets in the work were individually examined and the cou-
plets about integrity and honesty were determined and coded.
3. e couplets were grouped into the concepts by their characteristics
4. e concepts were grouped under the themes.
Findings
e codes, categories and themes reached through document analysis and
content analysis are shown in tables in this section. Dierent categories and

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themes can also be reached from the selected couplets. However, the categories
and themes have been carefully structured around the values education. e
numbers at the end of the couplets indicate their orders in the work.
Table 1. e Couplets on Telling the Truth
CODES CATEGORY THEME
May your tongue move to tell the
truth; You should keep it inside if it
is untrue (1026)
Word has many benets when you
tell the truth; e untrue is always
reproved (1025)
e bounder of the men is the
shameless one; e shameless does
not tell the truth (2203)
How well said the veracious; May
God reward him (5078)
Harsh and bitter is the truth; its
benet would be sweet for you if you
comprehend the truth (5774)
Don’t be mad at the man telling you
harsh words; harsh would be the
truth, you shouldn’t be hard on this
(5775)
I have told the truth, harsh and
bitter was it; the wise are those who
tolerate the truth (6620)
e word is the truth; the dierence
between the truth and untrue is like
the dierence between white and
black (6622)
 Not to avoid tell-
ing the truth (rather
than telling a lie),
even though this will
eventually hurt you.
 Not to be hurt
upon hearing the
truth.
Telling the truth
Having analyzed the table, it is seen that the work includes 8 couplets on
telling the truth and not getting hurt from the truth. ese couplets have
been grouped under “telling the truth” theme and categorized as ‘importance
of telling the truth’ and ‘not getting hurt from hearing the truth’.

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Table 2. e Couplets on Integrity (Being True / Righteousness)
CODES CATEGORY THEME
Righteousness is what the man
needs to reach happiness; Be-
lieve in this word! Humanity is
the name of being true (865)
e uncommon is the humanity,
not the man; e less is right-
eousness, not the man (866)
If you want wealth and blessings
of this world; ese are obtained
with righteousness (1744)
Everything joins to those that
are alike; Live in righteousness
and don’t join the untrustworthy
ones (2252)
Righteousness is capital and all
the good deeds are your earn-
ings; the man can enjoy the eter-
nal bliss with this prot (2756)
Mature your word if you want
to be mature; if you wish right-
eousness, you shouldn’t go astray
(4036)
O sun of my heart! Now try not
to envy others and don’t wander
o the right path (4252)
Try hard! Don’t wander o the
path of righteousness; don’t
waste your youth! Learn how to
benet from it (360)
Each side of smooth things is
good; pay attention! Each good
deed has smooth attitudes and
behaviours (805)
 Not to wander off the
path of righteousness.
 Right person achieves his/
her goal sooner or later.
 Righteousness pay off in
both worlds.
 Righteousness is a rare
trait among people.
 People who internalized
righteousness are rare, but
they are very precious.
 One should be close to
the people who internal-
ized righteousness.
Integrity /
Righteousness
(Being True)

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CODES CATEGORY THEME
e straight thing cannot stand and then falls
if it bends over; what/who is straight is the
one that doesn’t fall (807)
Look! My nature (character) is also straight
and it doesn’t bend over; it would be devastat-
ing if the straight (one) bent over a side (808)
I handle things righteously; I don’t discrimi-
nate people as master or servant (809)
If the lord is true and rules the country righ-
teously; all his wishes come true (822)
Righteousness is what the man needs to reach
happiness; Believe in this word! Humanity is
the name of being true (865)
If the man wishes to have a happy day; he can
nd a remedy in righteousness (1291)
If you want to be wealthy, keep in mind that
the real wealthy is the one who has found
fortune in righteousness (1292)
If you want greatness and to lead the people;
Don’t ever wander o the path of righteous-
ness (1293)
If the man is wise and he has right attitudes
and behaviours; e sun shines upon him in
both worlds (1294)
Listen to the man having right behaviours;
the right person help you get the best of both
worlds (1290)
He followed his father’s advice and didn’t go
astray; His sun has shone brighter and his bliss
has increased day by day (1566)
Listen to the man having right behaviours;
the right person help you get the best of both
worlds (1290)

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CODES CATEGORY THEME
He followed his father’s advice and didn’t go
astray; His sun has shone brighter and his bliss
has increased day by day (1566)
e sweet-natured man having true behaviours
can also spend his day in blessing in both worlds
(1663)
ose having righteousness, sense of shame and
true behaviours are truly full of joy (1664)
You should look for the great one among the
men; He should be called the true man if has
true attitudes and behaviours (1730)
O Ruler, hearken! ose having right manners
also have a wonderful life (1749)
e wise is right and smooth-spoken; Essence
of his manners are founded on righteousness
(1866)
e people expect the ruler to be very distin-
guished; e ruler should be straight as a die and
distinguished by nature (1963)
If the ruler acts right and is good by nature;
at’s the one having a life full of joy (1978)
Keep your heart right and speak the truth, trust
in God’s grace; Don’t disobey God (2158)
Free and independent people are all the servants
of goodness; do kindness and pave the way for
righteousness (2307)
Listen to the words of the man having right
manners; ose having right manners can have
all the blessings of this world (2863)
Wherever he is, the right person spends his days
in blessing; Day or night! e sun shines upon
those having right manners (2864)

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It has been determined that there are 31 couplets on integrity in the Kutadgu
Bilig. It is seen that being true is basically advised in these couplets; these cou-
plets emphasize that the truth will never lose and it will win in the end, the
truth is an opportunity for happiness in both worlds, integrity is synonymous
with humanity, right person is rare, the right person should be appreciated
and the people internalized righteousness should be preferred.
Table 3. e Couplets on Truthfulness and Honesty
CODES CATEGORY THEME
Don’t abide by the evil and don’t wander o
the path of righteousness; darkens the sun
upon the right person among the evil (5510)
e heavens stand thanks to righteousness;
Grass and crop sprout from the earth that is
constant (5600)
Righteousness has gone with grace, devious-
ness has come instead; ere is no one who
serves the purpose of the God (647)
Our Lord! Guide me in the right path to the
righteousness; Fill our hearts with faith! (393)
If the man has true manners and a tender
heart; He always behaves well to the people
(2209)
CODES CATEGORY THEME
e uncommon is the humanity, not the man;
e mind has always praised truthful and
honest men (869)
e servant should be so truthful and honest
that the lords can trust enough to entrust him
with important things (2211)
e wise are truthful and honest; e Sun
shines upon the truthful man everywhere
(2789)
 Being truthful
and honest
 Choosing truth-
ful and honest
people
Truthful-
ness and
Honesty

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CODES CATEGORY THEME
e wise man doesn’t get involved in the
evil; e wise acts in a truthful and hon-
est manner (2897)
If the lords nd a truthful, honest and
reliable man; ey can also nd peace
and they lead a blissful life (3128)
Straighten up your manners and watch
yourself!; May your heart and tongue be
honest, be brief! (4052)
Don’t turn to right or left! Keep your
heart honest!; e honest nds honesty in
both worlds (5601)
Be truthful and act honest!; Honesty
makes you happy (1289)
Be helpful and honest when you buy or
sell; by doing so, your path will always be
bright (4539)
e man shouldn’t be involved in trickery
with his hands and tongue; His manners
should be honest (709)
Servants should serve honestly; ose
whose wishes come true are the servants
whose service is admired (615)
He had honest character and amiable
manners; His words were true and he had
a contented heart(407)
Are there any truly honest and righteous
(God-fearing) people left?; But, the day
of judgment is near (6460)
e wise give you an advise with the
knowledge he has; “If you nd a righ-
teous and honest man, keep him closest
to yourself” (1727)
 Truthfulness and
honesty as two
valuable traits
 Truthfulness
and honesty bring
happiness in both
worlds

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It has been determined that there are 14 couplets on truthfulness and honesty
in the book. It is seen that the couplets underline the importance of truthful-
ness and honesty for wisdom, ensuring justice, happiness in both worlds and
to make life easier. In this sense, it is stated that true and honest people are
dicult to nd and they should be appreciated.
Conclusion
e present study has been conducted using qualitative research methods
(document analysis and content analysis) with the aim of examining how
the values of “truthfulness and honesty” are discussed in the Kutadgu Bilig
that is one of the most important works in the history of Turkic culture. It
is seen that the Ministry of National Education has recently attached special
importance to the values education in schools. However, it is also seen that the
values that are planned to teach and the materials that are used in the values
education mostly consist of the western sources and less room is given to the
national sources in this sense. e values of the Western civilization should be
undoubtedly benetted from. However, it is essential to become more aware
of our own values and form our education philosophy and policies based on
these values. In this way, it can be possible to raise the future generations who
knows-understands universal values based on national consciousness. Kutadgu
Bilig is an extremely convenient work for this purpose. e book consisting
of 6645 couplets has the qualities of a poem of values in its entirety. In this
context, it has been concluded that the book includes 53 couplets that are di-
rectly related to the value of honesty and integrity (8 couplets on being truth,
31 couplets on integrity -righteousness- and 14 couplets on truthfulness and
honesty). It can be said that the book, taken as a whole, mostly attaches great
importance to honesty and integrity.
Based on the ndings of this study, it can be said that the Kutadgu Bilig is
extremely important for the values education, which has recently gained im-
portance in education policies, and it can be easily used in values education.
e Kutadgu Bilig, in other words, should be one of the masterpieces to be
utilized in educational programs. Other values included in the book should
also be examined in terms of values education in order to contribute to the
literature.

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It is of utmost importance that the program makers should refer to Kutadgu
Bilig and the national and humanitarian values addressed in the book especially
in the lessons such as Life Sciences, Social Studies and Turkish that particularly
form the basis of the values education and the core of the lesson programs
should be structured around the national values for the future generations.
In the context, it has been thought that couplets in Kutadgu Bilig should be
incorporated into the contents of curricula stated and delivered eectively to
students. We recommend that where has been emphasized heavily on integrity
and truthfulness in the context of values education foremost, aective behaviour
education and character education, Kutadgu Bilig should be used as a reference
material. In order to use it eectively, le arning activities should be designed
based on authentic learning and performance.
Endnotes
1 For all ctatons from the Kutadgu Blg, see the prmary source: Ret Rahmet Arat,
Kutadgu Blg/Yusuf Has Hacp, Kabalcı Yayınev, İstanbul 2008
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Kutadgu Bilig’de Değer Olarak
Doğruluk ve Dürüstlük*
Cüneyt Akar**
Ömer Özkan***
Öz
Bu çalıma Yusuf Has Hacip tarafından kaleme
alınan Kutadgu Bilig’te yer alan doğruluk ve
dürüstlük ile ilgili beyitleri değer eğitimi perspekti-
nde incelemek amacıyla yapılmıtır. Çalıma nitel
aratırma tekniklerinden doküman analizi ve içerik
analizi teknikleri kullanılarak gerçekletirilmitir. Es-
erde doğruluk, doğru sözlü olmak, doğru ve dürüst
olmak ile ilgili sözler tespit edilerek incelenmitir. Es-
erin bütünü incelendiğinde de en fazla önem verilen
konuların baında doğruluk ve dürüstlüğün geldiği
söylenebilir. Aratırma sonucunda elde edilen bulgu-
lardan hareketle Kutadgu Bilig’in son dönemde eğit-
im politikalarında ağırlık kazandığı görülen değerler
eğitimi adına son derece önemli olduğu ve değerler
eğitiminde rahatlıkla kullanılabileceği söylenebilir.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Kutadgu Blg, Yusuf Has Hacp, Değerler, Değerler Eğ-
tm, Doğruluk, Dürüstlük
* Bu çalımanın br kısmı Uluslararası Kutadgu Blg: Türk Dünya Görüünün aheser
Sempozyumunda sunulmutur. 18-20.11.2016, İstanbul.
** Yrd. Doç. Dr., Uak Ünverstes, Eğtm Fakültes – Uak/Türkye
akarcuneyt@gmal.com
*** Prof. Dr., Gaz Ünverstes, Eğtm Fakültes – Ankara/Türkye
ozkano@hotmal.com

bilig
KIŞ/2017/SAYI 80
145
Честность и порядочность как ценности
в поэме «Кутадгу билиг»*
Джунейт Акар**
Омер Озкан***
Аннотация
В настоящей работе строфы о честности и порядочно-
сти, содержащиеся в поэме Юсуфа Баласагуни «Кутадгу
билиг», рассмотрены с точки зрения воспитания ценно-
стей. Как метод исследования авторами использованы
анализ текста и анализ содержания произведения. В тек-
сте выявлено и исследовано применение слов, связан-
ных с понятиями честности, правдивости, порядочности
и добросовестности. Исследование текста произведения
показывает, что основными его темами, которым автор
придает наибольшее значение, являются честность и по-
рядочность. Исходя из результатов исследования, можно
сделать вывод, что «Кутадгу билиг» имеет важнейшее
значение с точки зрения получившей распространение
образовательной политики воспитания ценностей, и мо-
жет быть использовано в образовательных целях.
Ключевые слова
«Кутадгу билиг», Юсуф Баласагуни, ценности, воспи-
тание ценностей, честность, порядочность
* Часть настоящего исследования была представлена на Международном симпо-
зиуме «Кутадгу билиг. К 1000-летию Юсуфа Баласагуни», 18-20 ноября 2016 г.,
Стамбул.
** Ст. преп., д-р., Ушакский университет, Педагогический факультет – Ушак/Турция,
akarcuneyt@gmail.com
*** Проф., д-р., Университет Гази, Педагогический факультет – Анкара/Турция,
ozkano@hotmail.com